Dissertation Research: Organizational Innovation in SETI, the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence: Ethnographic, Historical, and Policy Perspectives

论文研究：SETI 的组织创新，寻找外星智慧：民族志、历史和政策视角

• 批准号: 0002136
• 负责人: Kim Fortun
• 金额: $ 0.8万
• 依托单位: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-08-15 至 2002-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0002136&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Organizational; Innovation; SETI

This dissertation project proposes research on the origins and development of SETI, a modern scientific field comprised of several highly innovative research programs and organizations. SETI (the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence) is a branch of radio astronomy in which researchers utilize large radio telescopes, small satellite dishes, or optical telescopes to search for electromagnetic signals of intelligent origin. Study of this scientific field offers greater understanding of scientific organization, practice, and the relationship between science and the public. Specifically, this project posits that SETI is a unique scientific activity in which researchers are inventing: 1) new organizational forms; 2) new scientific practices infected by feedback from the public; and 3) new ways of engaging and enrolling the public in basic scientific research. SETI is a scientific activity that explicitly addresses issues of deep cultural significance. SETI researchers often point out that demonstrating the existence of extraterrestrial intelligent life would have profound effects upon cosmological, religious, and popular conceptions of our place in the universe. In part because of this, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) terminated direct funding for SETI programs in 1993. SETI scientists and researchers have therefore been forced to appeal directly to the public to obtain the funds, expertise, and other resources necessary to carry out search programs. This has resulted in a wide proliferation of innovative organizational forms within the SETI research community. This project will explore: 1) the diversity of organizational forms through which SETI research is carried out; 2) how these organizational contexts affect scientific practice; and 3) how these different organizational structures have cultivated/limited public involvement in SETI. This project proposes 11 months of field research to: 1) interview and interact with researchers affiliated with SETI organizations throughout the continental United States; 2) conduct archival research at organizations that have sponsored SETI research work; 3) participate in various public presentations, conventions, and conferences at which SETI scientists interact with members of the general public; and 4) map the ways that SETI is understood by enthusiasts and in popular culture. Primary data for this study will be collected through more than 40 in-depth, focused interviews conducted with SETI researchers, volunteers, and enthusiasts. In order to frame informants' perspectives within the larger historical and social context in which SETI research is done, interview data will be supplemented with ethnographic data and archival sources. This research design is built upon site visits and preliminary interviews conducted between March and October of 1999.

本论文项目旨在研究SETI的起源和发展，这是一个由几个高度创新的研究项目和组织组成的现代科学领域。SETI（搜寻地外智慧）是射电天文学的一个分支，研究人员利用大型射电望远镜、小型卫星天线或光学望远镜来搜索智能起源的电磁信号。对这一科学领域的研究有助于更好地理解科学组织、实践以及科学与公众之间的关系。具体来说，该项目假定SETI是一项独特的科学活动，研究人员正在发明：1)新的组织形式；2)受公众反馈影响的新的科学实践；三是创新公众参与基础科学研究的方式。SETI是一项科学活动，明确解决具有深刻文化意义的问题。SETI的研究人员经常指出，证明外星智慧生命的存在将对宇宙学、宗教和人们对我们在宇宙中的位置的普遍看法产生深远的影响。部分由于这个原因，美国国家航空航天局（NASA）在1993年终止了对SETI项目的直接资助。因此，SETI的科学家和研究人员被迫直接向公众呼吁，以获得开展搜索计划所需的资金、专业知识和其他资源。这导致了SETI研究社区内创新组织形式的广泛扩散。该项目将探索：1)开展SETI研究的组织形式的多样性；2)这些组织背景如何影响科学实践；3)这些不同的组织结构如何培养/限制公众对SETI的参与。该项目提出了11个月的实地研究：1)与美国大陆SETI组织的研究人员进行访谈和互动；2)在资助SETI研究工作的机构进行档案研究；3)参加各种公开演讲、会议和会议，让SETI科学家与公众互动；4)绘制出爱好者和流行文化对SETI的理解方式。这项研究的主要数据将通过与SETI研究人员、志愿者和爱好者进行的40多次深入、集中的访谈来收集。为了在进行SETI研究的更大的历史和社会背景下构建线人的观点，访谈数据将辅以人种学数据和档案来源。本研究设计基于1999年3月至10月期间进行的实地考察和初步访谈。